A $306,500 Meta engineer skips car to retire early

Meta engineer – Raymond Zeng, a 24-year-old Meta software engineer earning $306,500 a year in the San Francisco Bay Area, lives without a car, couch, or TV—using his budget to funnel money into investing, travel, and hobbies. His rent is $2,600 for a one-bedroom, he spends ab

When Raymond Zeng moved to the San Francisco Bay Area about 8 months ago. he didn’t bring furniture—or a car—with him. At 24, the Meta software engineer says his apartment stays intentionally “spartan”: no TV, no couch, and no vehicle. For him, it’s not deprivation. It’s a choice he believes turns daily life into fuel for a much bigger goal—retiring around age 30.

Zeng earns $306,500 a year working as a software engineer at Meta. On an average month. he brings home about $4. 000 after taxes and retirement contributions. with take-home pay dipping and rising depending on stock vesting. bonuses. and contributions. He estimates his monthly income runs between $7. 000 and $8. 000 excluding bonuses and stock options. which make up roughly 60% of his total compensation. After all that, he says he saves anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 in a given month.

His central premise is simple: “a big part of personal finance is choosing where to spend money and where not to.” In his case, the “not” list is long—and it directly shapes what he does with his paycheck.

Zeng pays $2,600 a month in rent for a one-bedroom apartment, calling it a good deal for the area. He chose the location because it’s a five-minute walk from a Bay Area Rapid Transit station. with cafes. grocery stores. and boba shops nearby. He says apartments closer to his office can run between $3. 500 and $3. 700 a month. which is part of why he’s comfortable sticking with his current setup.

Inside, he has built the apartment around function rather than display. His living room doubles as both his workspace and hobby area. Instead of owning a TV, he uses his computer because he rarely watches television. Since he doesn’t host people often, he says he’s never felt pressure to fill the space beyond basics. In the bedroom, he keeps a bed, a blanket, a pillow, and a filing cabinet that doubles as a nightstand. The only clear splurge he calls out is a $400 bidet, which he describes as a quality-of-life upgrade.

The car decision is what he points to as a major cost lever. He lives without a car, which he says keeps transportation costs extremely low. Most months, he spends little to nothing getting around. When he does travel, he spends about $30 on rideshares or public transit. Otherwise, he walks or uses his company shuttle service.

Food spending follows the same logic of restraint with allowances. Zeng says he spends around $300 a month on groceries and budgets another $75 for eating out. He doesn’t always hit that limit because his company subsidizes breakfast and lunch.

Even his weekends have a cost rhythm built around what he chooses to do—and what he avoids. He spends time in VR with friends who live too far away to see regularly in person. He says they meet up in person once every few months. In his telling. it becomes an “accidental cost saver. ” because he doesn’t go out to bars. restaurants. or other social outings nearly as often.

Travel and hobbies take a different seat at the table. Zeng spends about $400 to $500 a month on travel and hobbies, including about $1,000 a year he pays in credit-card annual fees. He says he uses points and travel perks to offset flight costs. His approach is also shaped by the fact that everyday expenses outside rent are relatively low for him. which he says leads him to focus more on maximizing signup bonuses than earning points through daily spending.

That strategy, he says, has already produced results. Last year, he used points to book business-class flights from Los Angeles to Singapore for his dad and him, avoiding what he says would have been over $5,000 in airfare.

A significant share of his discretionary spending goes toward what he calls the “furry community.” In that space. he designs characters. commissions artwork. and attends conventions with the same friends he also spends time with in VR. The community revolves around anthropomorphized personas that people identify with and use as creative avatars. For Zeng. he frames it as an outlet for self-expression that he says is hard to find in his day job in tech.

He’s also saving up for a custom fursuit that can cost as much as $7,000 depending on the maker. And while he says one way he could save more money would be living with roommates, he describes living alone as a luxury he prioritizes because his own space is worth the tradeoff.

Money management is where his plan becomes unusually structured. Depending on stock vesting, bonuses, and retirement contributions, he says he can save anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 in a month. He maxes out his 401(k). Roth IRA. and health savings account every year. and he puts additional money into a brokerage account. Right now, he says his investments are roughly 80% in the U.S. stock market and 20% internationally.

He also tracks his finances very closely. Each month, he creates a new version of a budgeting spreadsheet he designed himself. He says he doesn’t use a template because he prefers a DIY system that can add or remove categories depending on what he needs to track. He keeps a larger spreadsheet dedicated to taxes. paycheck projections. and investment growth. including estimates for where he could be financially in future years depending on investment returns and contribution rates.

His projections are ambitious. He estimates he could have more than $2 million invested by age 30 if things go according to plan. By age 40, he projects that number could grow to more than $7 million. Still, he stresses that retirement planning always involves “a lot of moving parts,” including market performance.

Zeng also leans into feedback rather than isolation. He says he stays up to date and open with his plans for feedback, actively participating in Reddit and Discord communities and sharing his numbers and plans on his YouTube channel.

One idea he says he’s taken from the FIRE community is: “build the life you want and then save for it.” Yet he’s clear about one crucial adjustment—he’s flexible. If his circumstances change, he says his retirement plans will change too.

What stands out in Zeng’s story isn’t just how much he earns. It’s what he refuses to treat as automatic—couches, TVs, and even cars. In a city where comfort often becomes a default purchase, he’s chosen a different bargain: keep the routine lean, and let the savings do the heavy lifting.

Raymond Zeng Meta software engineer San Francisco Bay Area personal finance FIRE investing 401(k) Roth IRA health savings account budgeting spreadsheet early retirement